National Stearman Fly-In – Day 5

For Karl Vacek, Riverside, IL, owning this Stearman PT-17 for the past four years amounts to a “dream come true.” Vacek’s father flew in an earlier model PT-13 Stearman in 1939-40, and the son developed a passion for the biplanes as a young child, he explained Friday, Sept. 11, during the 38th National Stearman Fly-In. Vacek’s Stearman was manufactured in May 1940. He hangars it at Clow International Airport, Bolingbrook, IL.

Photo: Robert Harrison, National Stearman Fly-In